Hello, I am a Nurse in the State of West Virginia.
We are currently in the wake of Winter Storm Jonas which has left our hospital in a bind with staffing. I am well aware of the mandation laws currently in action for the state of WV. I understand that a nurse can be mandated to work a 16 hour shift if staffing is needed for the safety of the patients, which I have no problem with and will gladly volunteer in this time of need. However, at our specific facility after a nurse has worked a 16 hour shift, management will not let us leave the building, even if we are not scheduled to work for several days, requiring us to sleep here.
They are at this point threatening us with discipline.
I have just worked a 12 hour shift and am not needed to work an additional 4 hours as my replacement has arrived, they have no use for me. They will not let me leave the hospital even though they have no need for me. They say, "they cannot guarantee that I will make it in for my shift tomorrow night and I am not allowed to leave due to this."
Although extreme, I feel that this is somewhat a hostage situation, lol. I live 5 minutes away from the hospital of which I work, I have even said that I can walk to work of for some reason my 4WD lifted truck cannot make the 2.2 mile trip.
This cannot be legal, refusing a nurse from going home if they are not mandated and are not needed. For instance, a nurse worked her scheduled shift this past Friday and was going to leave at 7pm. They told her she was not needed but she was not allowed to leave.
She isn't scheduled to work again until Monday morning and are forcing her to stay here throughout the weekend? I cannot see how this is legal in anyway, and then on top of forcing us to stay they are intimidating us by throwing termination in our face if we leave.
I guess I should count my blessings. Not only do I like my job but we also have good nurse:patient ratios. (at least on nights). I was off this past weekend but my co-workers were not so lucky. A few did 4 in a row, nights and days. Many of our nurses commute so it was a no brainer to stay. Our hospital set them up in rooms and fed them. Also a local doughnut shop delivered doughnuts for free to the area hospitals. And nobody was forced to do anything.
We are on the same wavelength, must have had similar experiences. I have been a nurse for 35 years and it is so depressing that nothing has improved during all that time. I have changed jobs a fair bit looking for greener pastures. Nope, not out there. Too bad. Dignity. Yes. Something in short supply coming from health care administrators to nurses.
They are all the same. It doesn't matter where you go. Some are slightly less worse than others. Do you really think a nurse should be denied the right to cardiac meds to the point where they have a heart attack. If so, I hope you treat yourself the same way as you treat others.
I agree with the majority voiced here. I am not familiar with the laws in your state, but I would say absent a state of emergency of some other demonstrable crisis, this demand is not reasonable. How that plays out in reality is another story. If you ldont leave and you suffer a reprimand, what does that mean? It really means nothing. If they fire you, what is your recourse? I would think you may prevail at an unemployment hearing. You can certainly file a complaint with your labor board if you are terminated. This one is up for grabs meaning that the policy of the facility does not seem reasonable absent compensation. So, I think that is in your favor, but there is no real damage because in an at will stTe, you can get fired for any reason, and that does not mean there is any damage because a nurse is able to get a job fairly easily. In essence, if you elect to work there, you work under their policies. If you don't like their policies, you leave and go somewhere else. However.......this policy is pretty egregious and I think some attorney out there might make a case of it.
I truly do not believe that this practice is legal and you might want to talk to a attorney about that. However, how many hospitals are in your area? Are your employers exclusive to that area? I know there is a nursing shortage but I feel the intimation of not having a job because you want to go home and your shift has ended is not something that would stand up in a court of law unless you signed something pertaining to such a scenario. Read your handbook carefully and if it were me I would be seeking legal representation and I would have gone home.
I've had to stay at work was for a storm so bad we couldn't possibly drive home anyway, and there was no way the next days staff would make it in. In that situation we were paid overtime while on the clock our max 16 hours and paid on-call wage for the 8 hours we were required to clock out. It sucked, but I was getting paid for all the time I was there including sleep hours.
When the storm started to let up staff were allowed to leave by seniority as new staff slowly trickled in. That was a LONG 3 days. I did get stuck one other time, but fortunately only overnight and yes, I was again paid for the whole time I was in the building.
I can see needing to stay until relief staff can get there, but if the next shift's staff has already arrived I can't imagine how they can keep you, especially if they aren't paying you to be there.
Can you pm me the name of your hospital? I am about to retire from the service and I need to work at a place that takes care of it people. Thanks :) sounds like your hospital is the place.
We have a similar rule at the VA I am at, but if we are required to stay they must pay us for our entire time at the facility. When the Carolinas and Georgia had the major ice storm a couple years ago they gave us cots and blankets and asked some of us to stay and took volunteers first then voluntold people. If you stayed though you got fed and got paid your normal wage for the normal hours then overtime pay. I ended up not having to stay as they decided to close for a day. The next day after the closure it was "report to work if you think you can" and many decided to just enjoy a free day off and some of us trekked in as the roads were not that bad 2 days after the storm. Besides I had no power at home and enjoyed the ability to sit in a place with electric.
This cannot be legal in any state. I work in a facility that tried the same thing before when the weather was expected to be bad and it didn't work. The managers had to let the nurses go home after their scheduled shift. Once the scheduled shift is over, not only can they not require you to stay, it would also be a liability issue if something were to happen while you were on their property without being "on the clock". I hope you didn't allow them to bully you into staying.
Specializes in Med-Surg, OB, ICU, Public Health Nursing.
They are all the same. It doesn't matter where you go. Some are slightly less worse than others. Do you really think a nurse should be denied the right to cardiac meds to the point where they have a heart attack. If so, I hope you treat yourself the same way as you treat others.
Forced to stay and no cardiac meds?? Can we say personal injury lawsuit.
Wrong. The hospital policy is not valid if it violates local and federal laws and so you can make a case out of it. Being prevented from your medications is very wrong, you do not need an attorney to tell you that. And they can get their licenses into trouble. Your hospital attorney just like your HR will spin it otherwise because he/she does not work for you. Each case is different though. If you don't want to involve an attorney, you can call the Department of Labor or agency. I will simply walk away from my job if it were me because I don't need an employer like that. there are other employers.
You can get terminated with/without cause. But you can make a case of how they treated you (preventing you to get your meds). At least give them a hard time. You start with your supervisor, and then your hospital. I mean come on, they prevented you from getting your meds.
I used to get some of those treatments that I will consider as threatening remarks until my supervisors found out the family member at home is an established trial attorney. Suddenly, they all stopped giving me a hard time, they don't try to convince me anymore.
StrwbryblndRN
658 Posts
I guess I should count my blessings. Not only do I like my job but we also have good nurse:patient ratios. (at least on nights). I was off this past weekend but my co-workers were not so lucky. A few did 4 in a row, nights and days. Many of our nurses commute so it was a no brainer to stay. Our hospital set them up in rooms and fed them. Also a local doughnut shop delivered doughnuts for free to the area hospitals. And nobody was forced to do anything.